RALEIGH, N.C. -- Harold E. Funderburk has noticed more and more
big rigs parked on the side of the road with "for sale"
signs in their windows.

"They are just giving
it up, selling their stuff and going to work for some big (trucking)
company," the Raleigh, N.C. trucker said.

The high price of regular gasoline
usually gets all the attention, but the price of diesel has been
steadily climbing. This week, diesel nationally hit a record
$3.68 a gallon.

If prices keep climbing, Funderburk
said, he will park his semi, too.

"I'm going to make one
more trip," Funderburk, 58, said this week. "When I
get back, I'll make my decision."

The average tractor-trailer
gets just 5 to 6 miles per gallon, and, at current prices, it
can cost more than $700 to fill the empty tanks on most long-haul
trucks. That's too much for many truckers to keep hauling goods.

Todd Spencer, executive vice
president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association
in Grain Valley, Mo., estimates as much as 10 percent of the
association's 161,293 members have parked their trucks.

"Right now they are likely
spending $70,000 to $100,000 a year just for fuel," Spencer
said. "We are talking about losing half of their net income
for the year. They simply cannot survive."

The ramifications go far beyond
the trucking industry. With most of this country's goods transported
by truck, fewer drivers can lead to strained supplies while higher
fuel costs can be passed along to consumers who are already paying
more for food and other goods.

The high fuel cost is a relatively
new problem for trucking companies. Until a few years ago, diesel
fuel -- a byproduct of petroleum -- was generally less expensive
than regular gas.

But government mandates to
make diesel fuel cleaner and higher oil prices have steadily
pushed up the price of diesel. The higher costs coupled with
a slowing economy have been hard on the entire trucking industry,
but especially so on small companies and independent drivers.

And it doesn't look as if there
is going to be price relief any time soon, said Tom Crosby, an
American Automobile Association spokesman.

Crosby said that the nation's
already-strained oil supply has been worsened by a temporary
refinery shutdown in Texas and minor glitches at other production
sites

The weak economy isn't helping
truckers, either.

With the downturn in the housing
market, there are fewer construction supplies to ship. And consumers
are starting to put the brakes on spending, which means less
cargo to move across the country.

Fewer shipments have led to
longer waits for a load to drive back home. Layovers also add
to their travel costs since drivers, who commonly sleep in their
cabs, have to run their truck engines throughout the night to
keep warm.

Tom V. Lancaster, an independent
trucker from Cumberland, Md., said he usually tries to haul close
to home in case he has to wait for a load. But on a recent weekday,
he was at a truck stop in Dunn, N.C., near Interstate 40 and
I-95, preparing for an overnight stay.

He used the down time to do
some light maintenance on his truck -- one way he saves money
-- while he waited to hear whether he'd get another load. He
had to get one that would cover the $315 in gas he figured it
would cost to spend the night and make the drive.

Some truckers have invested
in auxiliary power units to use at night to heat their trucks.
But Lancaster hasn't been able to afford one; they range in price
from $1,500 to $7,000.

With fewer jobs, some small
companies are finding it hard to keep their drivers busy.

Kerry Ramsey, owner of K&M
Ramsey Trucking in Fayetteville, N.C., parked one of his five
trucks when a driver left. He doesn't plan to replace him until
business picks up.

"I've got five families
depending on me for income," Ramsey said. "You try
to save as much as you can because the trucking expenses have
gone plumb crazy."